The Hawken Media Page now offers a new first-person trailer showing gameplay from Adhesive Games' recently announced UDK mech-themed multiplayer first-person shooter. The clip shows a load of combat in a futuristic urban setting. As impressive as these visuals are, the clip carries a note saying: "Early prototype video. Does not reflect the quality of final product."

When I saw a video of this game some weeks/months ago for the first time it looked interesting but it didn't quite feel like a mech game and unfortunately it still doesn't.I'd rather want to play another Shattered Steel or, even better, another MechWarrior. (a mech game in the WH40K universe would be neat, too)

MW2 and MW3 had the best mechwarrior feeling.This looks like a solid shooter, with good looks and 3 dimensional fights. The models are moving way too fast and too easily (i suspect no torso twist and such) to be any close to a mech sim. Very different kind of games i'd say, although i'm sold on the visuals alone here.

StreetPreacher wrote on Mar 31, 2011, 12:27:Another quick update. I thought I saw a strong Maschinen Krieger influence in the design (that's a GOOD thing!), and I see from the Kotaku article that that's very intentional. AWESOME!

I didn't know what to call the visual style or who/what Maschinen Krieger is/was, but now I do. I've always been a fan of this sci-fi look. It's like a conglomerate of that industrial Star Wars look, with an Asian influence in a post-apocalyptic environment. So cool.

Yeah, I remember Shogo. I was just saying that watching this compared to Mechwarrior I mean that those things felt like big heavy machines that didn't turn ona dime and leap all over like a ballerina. Yeah, I know they're going for a different feel and much smaller mechs, but still I'd like to see the mass and inertia of the mechs mean a litle something more. Anyway, I'm still interested.

"Lights going out and a kick in the balls. That's entertainment, that's entertainment"

Ya know, as a Mech SIM fan, I and many are more concerned that it LOOKS real, moves REAL, FEELS real. As in enough to suspend disbelief. As usual, peeps read into the term sim and equate it with it not being fun.

On the other hand if you take a mech game and make it feel like quake, then it is just quake with mech skins, which really is not that fun at all for a Mech fan. Mech Assault, would be a good example. Well, that game was Quake/PACMAN . lol

Hawken looks pretty sweet. Especially since it is the 1st real next gen Mech offering to be coming our way.

It's also not "UT with jetpacks" either. There seems to be SOME amount of system critical resource management/strategic elements shown here like avoidance of overheating, managing use of jumpjets, a more information-rich HUD than your average UT clone, etc. I wonder if there will be energy based weapons which draw from a common power supply a la Tribes.

Hoping there's a bit more Mech sim staples as well that might not be apparent or implemented yet; some form of part customization would be nice, different sized 'mechs' which play different roles in combat, and most importantly (for me at least), locational damage/the ability to target specific body parts to disable unfavorable weapons, abilities, or hinder movement (from this video that isn't looking likely, I'm still holding out hope though).

I also noticed a power-slide-like ability reminiscent of Virtual On. Actually, a lot of this reminds me of Virtual On mixed with Mech Warrior and some Steel Battalion, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Cutter wrote on Mar 31, 2011, 16:43:While I love the look and sounds, it feels just a wee bit twitchy for giant mechs boogying around and getting it on. I hope their maps/environemts are quite varied, however.

You've never heard of Shogo? Farking best mech combat ever, and twitchy as all hell.

While I love the look and sounds, it feels just a wee bit twitchy for giant mechs boogying around and getting it on. I hope their maps/environemts are quite varied, however.

And yes, bots are essential. Good for practice and good to play with whenever a crop of hacks pops up and you want to avoid dealing with those losers untill said hacks are addressed. And sometimes you just don't feel like dealing with kids online bots don't say things like 'h4hA i jUzt r4wk3D uR nUb aZz!'.

"Lights going out and a kick in the balls. That's entertainment, that's entertainment"

Razumen wrote on Mar 31, 2011, 14:01:"Mech-themed" is right. As cool as this looks, and I will undoubtedly enjoy it upon release, It's evident from the gameplay videos that it's really just UT with jet packs, mech player models and a cockpit overlay thrown on for good measure.

Definitely not a true mech game.

Any mech game can be classified that way.

If creating mech builds and what not is how you would further classify it as a mech game, then you should know there was talk of that being a possibility.

Well, (for better or for worse) classic mech games usually do have their own unique, and often more challenging, control scheme. And then there are things like radar management, subsystem and limb specific damage, a more configurable and extensive amount of weapons, etc etc.

I'm not debating that this isn't a mech game, and some of these things may make it into the final game like you said, I just wished they'd gone more into that route than following the usual FPS mold.

True, it's definitely less sim and more action. But I guess I would go that route to explain why it's not a mech game and not talk about how the hud determines that. Technically, MW is a FPS with an overlay too. It just happens to be a lot more intricate which makes it a mech sim.

Strip the textures from the level that make the mech look huge and remove the slightly jerky camera roll and it does play just like any other DM game. It doesn't have the simulator aspect people usually associate with mechs. These aren't slow lumbering tanks they're giant extensions of people.

Razumen wrote on Mar 31, 2011, 14:01:"Mech-themed" is right. As cool as this looks, and I will undoubtedly enjoy it upon release, It's evident from the gameplay videos that it's really just UT with jet packs, mech player models and a cockpit overlay thrown on for good measure.

Definitely not a true mech game.

Any mech game can be classified that way.

If creating mech builds and what not is how you would further classify it as a mech game, then you should know there was talk of that being a possibility.

"Mech-themed" is right. As cool as this looks, and I will undoubtedly enjoy it upon release, It's evident from the gameplay videos that it's really just UT with jet packs, mech player models and a cockpit overlay thrown on for good measure.

Very impressive. Can't wait to see the final product. Judging by the "oversteering" when they are targeting I think this guy is playing on a controller? Seems like a fantastic little game to offer as DLC, I'd pay $20 but I think a ton of ppl would probably pay $10.

From their website:

What platform is it for?This is unknown at this point. We are interested in bringing Hawken to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

How much will it cost?We donít know yet, but our plan is for Hawken to be a downloadable title that will have a relatively low cost compared to boxed games.